Dog exercising machine



MayZ, 1950 J. YUSHAK DOG EXERCISING MACHINE Filed July 50, 1948,

IN V EN TOR. JBHN YUSHAK AflJ/FA Ff Patented May 2 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOG EXERCISING MACHINE I John Yusliak, Garfield, N. J.

Application July 30, 1948, Serial No. 41,457

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to a dog or pet exercising vehicle, with particular reference to a manually guided and'controlled vehicle upon which a dog may be caused to take his exercise.

The main object of the invention is to provide a vehicle for exercising house-bound dogs and pets by causing the same to run upon an endless belt or chain treadoifering a certain amount of resistance to movement of the feet of the animal.

An important, object is also to provide such an exercising vehicle with manually controlled means for changing the resistance offered to the operation of thebelt tread at will. ,Another object is to have an exercising vehicle of the character. indicated which in one form has the two side, edges thereof curved and widened toward the rear.

A further object is to provide such a vehicle with a fixed handle by which it may be pushed, guided and tilted either forwardsor backwards,

asdesired.,,.. 7

It is likewise an object to have. such an exercising vehicle which has front wheels and rear wheelsso connected to the endless tread as to be driven in opposite directions thereby.

It is even an object on such an exercising vehicle, to include shiftable means for raising the vehicle upon .stationaryfeet with the wheels of said vehicle out, ,of. contact with the floor or ground to alloweasy exercising of, the animal in situ without causing travel of the vehicle.

Other objects and certain advantages of the invention will appear ingreater detail as the specification proceeds.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing,.and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a dog exercising vehicle made according to the principles of this invention and embodying the same in. a practical form.

Fig. 2. is a-longitudinal section of the same exercising vehicle taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar section of said vehicle taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 1, showing certain parts in shifted positions in contrast with Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a modiflcation.

Throughout the views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts, I

Out in the country, the various family pets, and especially pet dogs have ample space for running about and obtaining suflicient exercise. The dogs usually remain outside the house all day, and if taken into the house at all, are inside only at night, so that there is never any question about sufficient exercise for such animals. Frequently, the children in the family romp and play with the family dog and the latter thus has plenty of opportunity for running every day and is traditionally lying about resting in the evening when the family is at home in the living room of the house.

In our cities, however, especially the large cities, where formerly there were many open lots and empty spaces afiording dog owners opportunities for releasing their dogs to run and play,

the situation is different. In other words, the cities are now so far built up, and such large sections of these cities are occupied by apartment houses, that practically nothing but bare sidewalks are found outside the houses, while parks are often so far off as to be too much trouble to reach. Thus, the city dogs whose owners keep them in city houses and apartments most of the time, cannot spend too much time on the streets with their dogs, and the latter are therefore prone to aging and deterioration due to lack of exercise.

In order to remedy such conditions, and with the foregoing objects in view, it is now proposed to provide a special exercising vehicle for a dog, which may be used in the house in stationary condition, or moved about upon the street outdoors.

Hence, in the practice of the invention, and referring again to the accompanying drawing, a dog exercising vehicle, generally indicated at 9, has a platform frame including two platform members l0 and II, preferably of wood or the like rigidly connected together by a pair of integral bridge members I2 and i3 spaced apart to form an intermediate clearance gap 14 for a, purpose soon to appear. Upon the forward and rear ends of the platform members are attached bearings l5 and I6 to receive the stub shafts I1 and I8 of forward and rear supporting rollers l9 and 20 upon which an endless belt or chain tread 2| is mounted to run forwardly or rearwardly thereon, and when loaded, may sag slightly toward or into the clearance opening 14.

Beneath the platform members are rigidly depending bearing lugs 22 and 23 through which extend a pair of rotatable shafts 24 and 25 upon the ends of which are fixed traction wheels 26,

26 and 2?, 2i exteriorly of the bearing lugs, so as to provide for rolling the vehicle along the floor or on a street. Both of the mentioned shafts are provided with a pair of pulleys at 28, 28 and 29, 29 connected by a pair of crossed belts 30, 30 which obviously cause the forward shaft to be rotated in the opposite direction to that of the rear shaft when driven, and vice versa. When the forward wheels 28, 26 thus rotate counterclockwise by friction with the ground upon forward travel of the vehicle, the crossed belt connections will cause rear shaft 25 and wheels 21 2? to tend to rotate clockwise.

In order to drive the shafts and wheels and thus tend to propel the vehicle, rear shaft as carries an intermediately fixed driving roller 3! effective frictional contact with the lower span of the belt or chain tread 2% to be driven by the iatter for driving the mentioned wheels. To fac itate handling the vehicle manually, an npwardiy pro- 'jecting rigid handle frame 32 is secured by a tach'rnent lugs 33, 33 to the rear ends of the pietform members and are held in place rivets or bolts 3 as. From the handle pro-per 35 projects a forwardly extending fixed leash hook 35.

If a dog is placed on the tread 2i and captive to the leash 38 by hooking the same to hook '36, this dog by running on the tread will drive the latter rearwar ly and thereby rotate roller 3! and rear wheels 2'5 counterclockwise. This roller may be toothed or knurled (not shown) inorder to increase the traction between the same and the tread, if desired, and the ban die frame may be stead'ied by a pair of stays 69 and t'd bolted e1 riveted thereto at their upper ends and siznilarly attached at their lower ends to the plat form members. Then if the handle is grasped and the vehicle held tilted silghtly tothe rear with the front wheels 26 off the ground, the rear wheels will propel the vehicle forward, driven by the 'dog trotting on the tread. Naturally, when the iatter is driven in this fashion, the vehicle by means or the tread offers a limited'resistance to the trottin' of the dog.

when a slightly greater resistance is desired, the ve icle is tilted slightly forward to raise the ieai' wheels and allow the dog to tend to propel the'vehicle backwards, while the same time "the latter vehicle is pushed forward in opposition to "thedogs driving. If the 'vehi'cl'eis simply'allowed to rest on all four wheels when the dog exercises, theopposite rotation-of the front and-rear wheels will give rise to'opposing friction to require considerableeifort on the partof the dog to keep the tread moving.

Thus far, the vehicle has been-described for use either in th "houseor on the street, but preferably the latter. "For the house in particular, and also in order to provide an even smaller resistance "than already outlined, the vehicle is also provided with a group of swingably mounted feet Ell, 4!, (two shown) mounted on shafts 6'2 and 43 supported in bearing lugs 44 and 45 projecting down beneath the platform members, the pair on each side being linked together by a-linkes pivotally connected at th ends thereof by pins or the like to said feet or legs. One of the latter, leg 4| extends upwardly through a slot 41 and terminates in 'a'handle 48, and when this is shifted forward, the link causes "the forward leg to move with the rear leg integral with the handle. At least rear shaft 43 extends to the other side of the vehicle 'to onejof the legs (not shown) which is linked 'to the front leg (also not shown but understood) from the legs or feet 40, 41 and the link 46 just described.

Normally, the feet are swung or raised out of contact with the floor to allow either the four or only two of the wheels to support the vehicle in the above described manner. Manually swinging handle lever 68 forward will swing all the feet down from their inactive position of Fig. 2 to the active lowered position shown in Fig. 3. In the latter position, it is clear that the front and rear Wheels will be allowed to idle, and the resistance offered to the dogs movements will be at a minimum.

In the form of the invention shown, the platform members are of nearly triangular shape, their side edges 49 and 58 being substantially parallel with the endless belt 2|, presenting the wide ends 5| and 52 to the rear. The wider pordons or the platform members serve to support the dog when resting and when th vehicle is manually pushedo'r pulled along without exercising the 'dog. On thefother hand, in the form of 'vehi'cleshown in Fig i, the sides 53-and 5 3 of rela= tively narrow platform members 55 and 56 are substantially straight and parallel, the net result being that the vehicle as a whole is narrow, so as to be suitable for storing in narrow spaces and active use on narrow sidewalks or narrow floors. All of the other parts and details are p're cisely the same "as in'the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3, "except that the traction shafts 2'4 and 25 are naturally shorter, "and, the second pair of fe'e't 5'! and 58 also appears. It should be mentioned that in *Fig. '1, the feet arendt indicated merely 'for the's'ake of clarity iii'the view. I

The platform members may beinad'e of wood,

plastic or metal orany combinatioh'thereof, while the wheels i'm'ayjb'e made either of similar material or any "others'uitable material. The bearing Iug's,'feetand 'linksmaybe made of metal or plastic, etc., and the tread belt may be of leather, fabric or flexible plastics: combined fabric and plastic'j'rnatejrial, o'r'may evenbe'a plastico'r m'eta'l chain structure without departing from the spirit of the invention. WhileI'have illustrated and described the pr ferred embodiments of invention, it is to be understobd tha'ti do not limit "myself to the precise coiistructionshereindisclosed and the right is re'srved to'all changes'andmodifieationseom ing Within the scope'of the invention "a'sdefined injthe appendedfclaim's.

Having "thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to "secure by United States Letters Patent *l. A dog exercising vehicle having a frame comprising two spaced p atforms connected "by bridge "iri'e'iiibe'r's integral therewith, rollers mounted for 'rotationat the frontand rear ends of said frame, an "endless "traction belt passed around said rollers, "brackets depending'from said frame, axles mounted for remnantsac of said brackets, ground engaging "wheels fixed to "said axles, a friction roller mounted on one or said axles and engaging a portion of 'saidendless -belt, andmeans interconnectingsaid axles effecting bontra 'rotation of said axles and ergo, "said wheels, whereby a substantial resistance will be offered to movement cream endless belt relative to said frame. H

2. A dogexercising vehicle as defined'in claim 1, wherein'said *meah's comprises pulleys fixed to each of said axles and a crossed belt connecting Said pulleys. I, p I I 3. A dog exercising vehi'c'leas defined inclaiih 2, wherein said frame is provided with a handle rigidly attached at the rear of said platform to effect forward or rearward tilting of said vehicle.

4. A dog exercising vehicle having a frame comprising two spaced platforms connected by bridge members integral therewith, rollers mounted for rotation at the front and rear ends of said frame, and an endless traction belt passed around said rollers, brackets depending from said frame, said brackets carrying axles mounted, for rotation therein, ground engaging wheels fixed to said axles, a friction roller mounted on one of said axles and engaging a portion of said endless belt, means effecting contra-rotation of said axles, and ergo, the wheels, said means compris ing a pulley fixedly mounted on each of said axles, a crossed belt connecting said pulleys, and means elevating said wheels to disengage them from the ground.

5. A dog exercising vehicle as defined in claim 4, wherein the last named means comprises a plurality of brackets integral with the underside of said platforms, rods extending between said brackets and mounted for rotation therein, legs REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS N1 lber Name Date 8,730 Holly Feb. 10, 1852 1,349,941 Broome Aug. 1'7, 1920 1,350,546 Culver Aug. 24, 1920 1,614,086 Schaper Jan. 11, 1927 2,155,684 Richards Apr. 25, 1939 

